Key moments in Bradley Braves triple-overtime win at Indiana State
Key moments in Bradley Braves triple-overtime win at Indiana State on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025.
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PEORIA — Anyone for regulation this time?
The Bradley Braves took on Indiana State in a rematch Wednesday at Carver Arena, and the game came down to the final moments again.
Bradley, down 8 with 6:17 to go, rallied to take the game away from the Sycamores in the final four minutes, crowd standing, for a 75-68 win before 5,327.
The Braves are making a move, as Jaquan Johnson sinks a pair of free throws, Ahmet Jonovic ends the following Sycamores possession with a steal, and Johnson floats a pass to set up freshman Matthew Zobrist for a layup.
Boom, Indiana State lead down to 60-59 with 7:46 left. Sycamores have not won a conference game on the road yet this season (0-4).
Braves get a three-shot flurry at 13:07 of the second half, miss all three shots by Demarion Burch (two) and Ahmet Jonovic. Then Indiana State goes the other way and gets a pull-up jumper from Jo Van Buggenhout for 54-48 lead.
Bit later, at 11:46 left, Timoty van der Knaap misses a dunk off an alley-oop pass.
Still, they are in it, down just 54-50 midway second half.
The Braves came back from eight down to trail just 34-32 with 2:08 left in the half when A.J. Smith drove to the rim and cashed in on an and-1 with a foul on Enel St. Bernard.
Smith flexed his right bicep and the Braves momentum seemed to be rising.
Then Indiana State turnover No. 9 arrived when Jaquan Johnson stole the ball and drove the floor to put down a layup in traffic for 34-34.
It was the first time the Braves pulled into a tie since 13-13 at the 10:34 mark.
Indiana State puts together an 11-4 run over 3:36 to push a lead to 22-15 with 7:20 left in the half.
Braves have forced 8 turnovers in the first 12:40 but can’t cash in with 28% shooting from the field. Demarion Burch the only player with more than one bucket for BU.
They last met in the 2025-26 Missouri Valley Conference opener in what became an instant classic on Dec. 18 when Bradley survived, 108-99, in triple overtime at Hulman Center in Terre Haute, Ind.
The Braves have gone on to stake a third-place spot in the Valley race at 13-7 overall, 6-3 in conference. Indiana State is ninth at 9-10 (2-6).
An historic first meeting
The Braves triple-overtime win on Dec. 18 tied for the second-longest game in the history of the program. And it was the longest game ever won by BU.
Bradley had a 74-71 lead with 1.3 left in regulation when Indiana State started 94 feet away, threw a long pass to Jo Van Buggenhout, who heaved up a buzzer-beater shot from beyond half-court to force overtime.
The Braves trailed in the first overtime when freshman Montana Wheeler pumped in a 3-pointer from the right wing with 25.3 seconds left for a 92-91 lead.
The game went on to a third overtime and BU put it away when Timoty van der Knaap piled up seven points in the first 2:02.
“It was a Raging Bull type movie,” said Bradley coach Brian Wardle, when asked what kind of film to which the game could be likened. “It would be a 3½-hour Martin Scorsese movie. One of my favorite directors, going back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, blows to blows all the way through.
“It was a crazy game. I’m proud of the team, told them I’m very proud of every one of them. Everybody made winning plays at key moments. We’re all tired now.”
Said Bradley freshman Montana Wheeler: “We’re a team full of fighters. We’re a team full of believers.”
The longest games in Bradley Braves history
- 7 OTs: Cincinnati 75, at Bradley 73, coach Dick Versace, Dec. 21, 1981
- 3 OTs: Bradley 108, at Indiana State 99, coach Brian Wardle, Dec. 18, 2025
- 3 OTs: at Missouri State 80, Bradley 77, coach Geno Ford, Feb. 25, 2015
- 3 OTs: at Arizona 85, Bradley 83, coach Chuck Orsborn, Feb. 3, 1965
Braves Rewind from Illinois State
Bradley is returning to action after a tough outing at rival Illinois State last weekend, where the Redbirds beat them by 26.
What they said afterward:
- Bradley head coach Brian Wardle: “We just got our butts whupped.”
- Wardle, on pumping up a team with words: “I’ll tell you how much these pre-game speeches that coaches record and put on social media, I’ll tell you how much they mean. Zero. Because I delivered like my best pre-game speech of the year today. Like A-game I would have had you guys in here running through the wall today. Well, we went out and got our butts whupped. Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. That old Mike Tyson quote is true. We got punched in the mouth.”
The Journal Star will provide live updates during the game. Check below for those, and lots of other information:
Bradley vs. Indiana State live score updates
TEAMS1st half2nd half—FINALIndiana State3632—68Bradley3441—75
Bradley, down 8 with 6:17 to go, rally to take the game away from the Sycamores in the final four minutes, crowd standing.
BU down four with 3:36 left here. Officials looking over replay on a contested out of bounds call. Ruling was Sycamores ball. Video review leaves some doubt.
After review, it’s Bradley ball.
Braves can’t cash in, though, as Alex Huibregtse’s 3-pointer does not go in.
The Braves are making a move, as Jaquan Johnson sinks a pair of free throws, Ahmet Jonovic ends the following Sycamores possession with a steal, and Johnson floats a pass to set up freshman Matthew Zobrist for a layup.
Boom, Indiana State lead down to 60-59 with 7:46 left.
Braves get a three-shot flurry at 13:07, miss all three shots by Demarion Burch (two) and Ahmet Jonovic. Then Indiana State goes the other way and gets a pull-up jumper from Jo Van Buggenhout for 54-48 lead.
Bit later, at 11:46 left, Timoty van der Knaap misses a dunk off an alley-oop pass.
Still, they are in it, down just 54-50 midway second half.
Sycamores sink 5 of 7 from the field in the first 4:44 of the second half to open a 47-42 lead.
Bradley center Ahmet Jonovic’s first two points of the game come on a pair of free throws with 15:05 left.
The Braves forced Indiana State into 10 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes, but led for only 91 seconds.
They got 7 points from Alex Huibregtse and 7 from Jaquan Johnson.
Indiana State got 8 points each from Ian Scott, Bruno Alocan and Enel St. Bernard.
Eight different Sycamore players committed a turnovers.
Neither team shot well from 3-point range, with Indiana State 3 of 11 and BU 3 of 13.
The Sycamores shot 56% from the field, though, while Bradley shot 36.4%.
The Braves came back from eight down to trail just 34-32 with 2:08 left in the half when A.J. Smith drove to the rim and cashed in on an and-1 with a foul on Enel St. Bernard.
Smith flexed his right bicep and the Braves momentum seemed to be rising.
Then Indiana State turnover No. 9 arrived when Jaquan Johnson stole the ball and drove the floor to put down a layup in traffic for 34-34.
It was the first time the Braves pulled into a tie since 13-13 at the 10:34 mark.
Indiana State puts together an 11-4 run over 3:36 to push a lead to 22-15 with 7:20 left in the half.
Braves have forced 8 turnovers in the first 12:40 but can’t cash in with 28% shooting from the field. Demarion Burch the only player with more than one bucket for BU.
Indiana State has seven turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the game. BU leads the Valley with 15.3 forced turnovers per game.
Bradley and Indiana State at 11-11 with 10:57 to go.
Braves 4 of 15 from the field (26.7%) but right in it because they’ve forced six turnovers from Indiana State already. Sycamores shooting 55%.
Bradley rolling with guards Matthew Zobrist and Montana Wheeler in the 7th minute.
BU forward A.J. Smith decked at the offensive end, recovers, heads the other way and throws bodies with 6-10, 255-pound Sycamores center Markus Harding.
Bradley shooting 25% from the field in the first four minutes of the game, and 0 of 3 from 3-point range. Yet down just 6-4 with 15:38 left.
Bradley freshman Dietrich Richardson will not play against Indiana State tonight. He is being held out as a precaution after suffering a whiplash-type injury during practice this week.
Indiana State is without starting center Derek Vorst, ruled out with an injury.
Projected starting lineups
- Indiana State: G Sterling Young (9.9ppg, 1.6apg, 41.2% FG); G Camp Wagner (12.9ppg, 4.9rpg); F Ian Scott (14.5ppg, 7.2rpg, 2.5apg, 42.4% 3FG); G Xavier Hall (8.2ppg, 4.3apg, 42.2% FG); Derek Vorst (8.6ppg, 4.5rpg, 54.5% FG).
- Bradley: G Jaquan Johnson (17.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 3.6apg. 39% 3FG, 64 steals); G Alex Huibregtse (10.9 ppg, 3.5rpg, 40% 3-pt FG); C Ahmet Jonovic (7.6ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.5 blocks pg, 53% FG); G Demarion Burch (11.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 43%FG), F A.J. Smith (8.2ppg, 4.9rpg, 41%FG, 30 steals).
Bravely Speaking
Bradley coach Brian Wardle has 106 career wins in the Valley, second all-time for the program. Jim Molinari leads with 110. The BU head coach is at 199 overall career wins at Bradley’s helm, second-most in program history. … Bradley freshman guard Montana Wheeler took an elbow to the ribs from 280-pound ISU big man Chase Walker and went down in front of the ISU bench with 6:55 left Saturday. He exited the game and did not return. … BU guard Jaquan Johnson has 64 steals, which leads the nation. His 3.2 steals per game rate is second. … Bradley leads the MVC in forced turnovers at 15.3 per game. … The Braves are 9-1 overall and 5-0 in conference play when they win the rebounding battle. … Bradley is 9-1 in games where Johnson scores 17+ points. … BU is 9-1 in games it allows 70 or fewer points. … Bradley is 51-9 at Carver Arena over the last three seasons. … Indiana State has scored 40+ points in the paint in four of its last five games. … The Sycamores score margin has been -2.6 over the last five conference games. … Indiana State’s Ian Scott is 17th in the nation at 63.1% FG shooting. … The Braves have nine underclassmen on the roster headed into 2025-26 making them the second youngest team in the MVC only to Valpo. … The 2025-26 season marks three important anniversaries for the Braves program: 20 years for the 2005-06 Sweet 16 team; 30 years for the 1995-96 MVC regular-season championship team, and 40 years for the 1985-86 MVC Regular-season championship team.
- NCAA NET ranking: Bradley No. 132. Indiana State No. 202
- Kenpom ranking: Bradley No. 137. Indiana State No. 194
- Kenpom says: Bradley 80, Indiana State 72 (BU 77% win prob)
- Barttorvik.com says: Bradley 81, Indiana State 73 (75%)
- Massey computer says: Bradley 80, Indiana State 74 (70%)
- CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Ranking: Bradley No. 31.
- MidMajorBasketball.com Mid-Major Ranking: Bradley NR.
- MVC Media Preseason poll: Bradley No. 3 of 11. Indiana State No. 9.
- Records: Bradley 13-7 (6-3), 3rd in MVC. Indiana St 9-10 (2-6), 9th in MVC.
- All-time series: Bradley, 60-44. At BU: Bradley 37-12. Last meeting: BU W 108-99 (3 OT) A.
- Head coaches: Bradley, Brian Wardle 11th yr (199-154). Indiana State, Matthew Graves 2nd yr (23-28)
What time does Bradley play today?
- Date: Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026
- Time: 6 p.m. CT
- Location: Carver Arena, Peoria, Illinois.
What channel is the Bradley vs Indiana State game on today?
Bradley vs Indiana State live stream options
Bradley vs Indiana State will be available via ESPN+.
Bradley basketball vs Indiana State betting odds
Game lines and odds via OddsShark as of Wednesday morning, Jan. 21:
Record: 13-7
- Nov. 3: St. Bonaventure 69, Bradley 66 | RECAP
- Nov. 8: Bradley 85, Central Michigan 54 | RECAP
- Nov. 12: University Tennessee-Martin 78, Bradley 67 | RECAP
- Nov. 15: San Francisco 75, Bradley 64 | RECAP
- Nov. 19: Bradley 87, UMass-Lowell 77 | RECAP
- Nov. 24: Bradley 88, Princeton 64 | RECAP
- Nov. 25: UC San Diego 87, Bradley 77 | RECAP
- Nov. 26: Bradley 74, Liberty 64 | RECAP
- Dec. 2: Bradley 64, Washington State 60 | RECAP
- Dec. 6: Bradley 84, Northern Illinois 55 | RECAP
- Dec. 14: Bradley 86, North Central College 53 | RECAP
- Dec. 18: Bradley 108, Indiana State 99 (3 OT) | RECAP
- Dec. 21: Bradley 73, Southern Illinois 69 | RECAP
- Dec. 29: Bradley 76, Evansville 68 | RECAP
- Jan. 1: Belmont 88, Bradley 78 | RECAP
- Jan. 4: Murray State 86, Bradley 66 | RECAP
- Jan. 7: Bradley 93, Drake 66 | RECAP
- Jan. 10: Bradley 75, Northern Iowa 69 | RECAP
- Jan. 13: Bradley 94, Evansville 90 (OT) | RECAP
- Jan. 17: Illinois State 88, Bradley 62 | RECAP
- Jan. 21: Indiana State at Bradley, 6 p.m., Carver Arena, Peoria, Illinois
- Jan. 24: UIC at Bradley, 7 p.m., Carver Arena, Peoria, Illinois
- Jan. 31: Bradley at Drake, 5 p.m., Knapp Center, Des Moines, Iowa
Buy Bradley basketball tickets this season via StubHub
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men’s basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or [email protected]. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.
